Every minute is crucial

Tony Parker earned Western Conference Player of the Month honors for January after averaging 21.9 points and 7.9 assists in 15 games, 12 of them Spurs’ victories. That he did this in an average of only 33.3 minutes per game makes his award-worthy production truly eye-popping.

Parker’s 32.7 minutes per game is by far the least among the 11 players averaging at least 20 points.

Clearly, he is one of the league’s most efficient players, and this is in keeping with coach Gregg Popovich’s master plan of minimizing his top players’ workload so they’ll be rested and ready once the playoffs arrive. Parker and Tim Duncan, playing more at age 36 than he did last season, are the only Spurs averaging at least 30 minutes per game.

Productive players on other teams are logging much more time. Here is a look at the NBA’s 10 busiest players thus far this season, which includes only one player who is 30-something: 34-year-old Kobe Bryant. (Stats are through Friday.)